The Wrong Path
by DarkHeart89
Summary: "Raquel shook her head. "Before all I wanted was to grow up," Tears brimmed in her eyes. "Now, the only thing I want it to be young again." She tossed the remaining half of her cigarette on the parking lot tar, and stepped on it, squishing it like a bug. Nightwing was silent, her words weighing on him, sinking in. Two-Shot.


**AN: I am soooo sorry for neglecting House Hunting Hell! Ugh! I know! I am such an evil author…never updating soon… I will get to it soon, I promise! I swear! On the life of my Facebook rp accounts! But…in the meantime, hopefully this will help, I wrote this while I was extremely tired and at one' o-clock in the morning! I should really get some sleep… -embarrassment- But yeah, hope you like it! Once again, my apologies, for not updating, and the two horrific errors I made in HHH. Gah, I feel so…stupid. Damn, I need a Beta, or I should just proofread my stories better and not neglect it…and after his looooong AN, I present you the disclaimer and this piece of writing…Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing… absolutely NOTHING. Not Taylor Lautner either… No YJ, or weird werewolf actor man. So yeah.**

~OoOoO~

The Wrong Path

Once Nightwing returned to the cave, the zeta tube announcing his arrival, all eyes were on him, casting sympathetic glances, hurt and pain showing in each individual's eyes.

"I…I told Wally." He announced sadly, remorse laced in his words. It was so silent, the only thing that could be heard was the martian's shallow breathing her suppressed sobs filling the room and creating an atmosphere of pure dread. Pity for Megan swelled inside of Nightwing, she had lost two significant others, her boyfriend and her best friend. It was amazing she was staying this composed. She was strong.

"He didn't take it well," Nightwing sighed. "He won't even speak to me, he won't look at me," He looked up, turning his head to meet each of their gazes. "And he swore her death would not be in vain, he's going to kill Kaldur." His tone was dead, emotionless.

Some gasped, others were smirking, the redhead had read some of their minds. Raquel on the other hand was frozen, shock pelting her nervous system like a stream of bullets. She had been like that for the past twenty minutes, the only sign of movement was the blinking and rise and fall of her chest. She couldn't believe the polite, soft spoken Atlantean she had known and loved, was actually what everyone had said, a villain.

Doubt had always lingered in the back of her mind, hoping that every rumor, every story was all a lie, just an undercover thing he was doing. She had hoped so long…but with the facts laid out in front of her, staring her in the face, it was inevitable, Kaldur really was evil, and he killed her friend.

A hand prodded her shoulder, and Raquel blinked her eyes rapidly, her eyes focusing on the red eyed magician in front of her.

"Raquel? Are you alright?" The raven-haired woman asked, concern evident in her voice. Raquel sighed and nodded, smiling wryly.

"Oh me? I'm fine! Just…still shocked is all.: She said it more to reassured herself then Zatanna, trying to believe her words.

"I think of either of us, ya are the one that's not ok." Raquel frowned. "If ya need someone to talk ta, I'm here, and my ears are open." She offered hesitantly.

Sniffing, Zatanna nodded. "…Thank you," She paused, swallowing a sob. "I appreciate it Raquel."

The dark skinned woman nodded. "Of course Zee, I'm always here for you." And as they continued chatting. Raquel swore eternally, she would get to the bottom of the mess, Kaldur could not of killed Artemis, and Raquel knew it. She would solve this, even if her life depended on it.

~OoOoO~

Observing the team during Artemis's wake was painful and dreadful for Nightwing, the lie weighed heavy on his heart. He wanted nothing more then to jump up in front of everyone, and scream, "She's alive!", but he couldn't possibly do that, he couldn't put everyone and everything, in jeopardy.

Besides, Billy was no better an actor then Taylor Lautner was, and with that being said; Manta, the Light, and the Shadows would know within weeks! Make that days. So admitting the truth was a bad idea, a very very bad one.

But the dread only grew worse at Artemis's funeral, seeing Artemis's Mother's sobs of pain, seeing the West family break down, watching Wally's solemn face, emotionless the entire time. Even Jade was there with Roy, her cheeks littered with fresh tears. He even saw Sportsmaster in civvies, watching silent, shocked his Babygirl was not around anymore.

Nightwing forced himself to turn away, he couldn't watch any longer, it was too hard. Especially when he saw some of Artemis and Wally's friends from college show up, seeing them casting sad glances at Wally, trying to console him in a variety of ways.

He stood up abruptly, causing a great deal of racket. Eyes flew to him. He looked down sheepishly, muttering apologies and quickly darted out, unable to hear the cries anymore.

A thick gust of wind rustled his raven locks and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, inhaling the winter air, glancing up at the sky, the dark clouds looming in the sky like a canopy of dread that just couldn't be shaken.

He felt tears brimming in his eyes and he forced them away, wrenching himself away from his thoughts, instead focusing on his surroundings. He noticed Raquel leaning against her rusted out motorcycle, that same blank look on her face that she had worn for weeks.

He rose an eyebrow, curious, and padded over to her, the wind rustling his coat.

Raquel didn't even look up when she heard him approach, she was too deep in thought.

"Hey." He greeted, in that monotone voice that she had become accustomed to since the former archer's death.

She gave a light nod, not responding immediately, a cigarette held in between her index and middle finger. "Hi." She took another puff, the smoke filling her lung as she then exhaled slowly. Kaldur never had liked her nicotine addiction, insisting it would kill her quicker and make her slow on the battlefield, she had quit, for him, but with him truly gone, there was no need to stop.

"Can't stand the cries either?" He asked, disregarding the revolting scent of smoke, his nose crinkling in disgust, his face twisting into a grimace.

"It's…hard." She says, looking up and staring into his sunglasses that really were unnecessary on an overcast spring day. "To see it, it's like a dream," She stopped, to gather her wits momentarily. "…More like a nightmare," She corrected, with a shake of her head. "You keep hoping to wake up, have everything resume back to how it was before, when we were teens," She smiled sadly, her brown eyes hard. "Everything was so easy then…" She trailed off, her voice threatening to crack.

She gave a little laugh. Nightwing rose an eyebrow skeptically, what could possibly be funny?

"…What?" He asked, suspicious.

"Raquel shook her head. "Before all I wanted was to grow up," Tears brimmed in her eyes. "Now, the only thing I want it to be young again." She tossed the remaining half of her cigarette on the parking lot tar, and stepped on it, squishing it like a bug.

Nightwing was silent, her words weighing on him, sinking in. She pulled on her helmet, revving up her bike and drove away, the scent of smoke lingering.

"I know exactly what you mean," Nightwing thought, then slowly walked back in, hunched, suddenly feeling even worse, if that were even possible.

~OoOoO~

In May, when Artemis's birthday approached, the whole atmosphere shifted, no one spoke, hardly anyone visited the cave, all happiness of a fresh season was gone, replaced again by the dread.

It was unbelievable.

Nightwing noted his teammate's behaviors, finding Raquel's the most worrying. A frown creased his face and he went over to approach the sullen woman.

"Raquel," She looked up, staring blankly. "Can we talk?" He offers, a grim line present on his face.

Hesitation, she nodded, and followed him to one of the empty rooms, dragging her feet as she went.

The metal door slid shut, and Nightwing flipped the light switch, bright artificial light filled the room, and he looked at the dark skinned woman.

She crossed her arms, feeling uneasy under his gaze.

"We've gotten some leads on Kaldur," Her interest peeked at the mention of the Atlantean. "And his new Ali." He waited, looking for a sigh to show she was listening.

She nodded. "Yah, so?"

"So…?" He rose an eyebrow critically. "The point I'm making here is that I want you to investigate, on a solo mission."

Her eyes narrowed. "I thought Batman was in charge of missions for the **League **members."

He didn't stutter. "Batman told me, and I'm telling you." He nodded at her. "You're strong. I thought you could handle it," His eyes narrowed behind his mask. "That is, as long as you can **emotionally** handle it." She snorted.

"Course' I can handle it!" She insisted, a bit of doubt lingering on the tip of her tongue. "I ain't like all the other emotional cases round' here!"

He seems…pleased with her reply and nodded. "Your debriefing, begins **now**."

AN: I thought this was pretty good… And if you want me to continue, let me know. BYE


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